After his team suffered a two-point loss to No. 3 Gilman last week, Archbishop Curley coach Alan Gebhart said he wondered how the Friars would react in another close match.

He needn't have worried. No. 4 Curley got five clutch pins to help score a 36-27 victory over No. 14 McDonogh in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference match last night.

For visiting Curley (7-1, 5-1), this was the second match since its 33-31 loss to Gilman. The Friars rolled to a 36-point win over John Carroll earlier this week, but Gebhart wanted a difficult match.

"We wanted to be tested," said Gebhart. "We wanted, however, to make darn sure we won."

And the pins helped Gebhart get his wish. Tony Diem (112 pounds, 17-4), Kenny Willson (135, 21-3), Sal Aquia (145, 20-1), Ben Verner (152, 17-4) and J.D. Mislak (189) all came up with important six-point wins for the Friars.

After Will Filbert (103) of McDonogh (5-2, 3-2) won to open the match, Diem (112) answered with a pin of Pat Jacobs. Matt Burns (119) then rallied from a 9-4 deficit to force overtime, and he pinned Shawn Calhoun 34 seconds into the extra period.

Paul Buettcher (125) and his brother, Mike (130), then scored decisions to put Curley up, 12-9. But then the pins began to pile up for the Friars.

Willson pinned Tony Esposito at 2:44 before Andy Seal (140) won decision for the Eagles. That was a team-high 14th pin for Willson.

But Aquia (145) scored a pin in just 45 seconds against Luke Broadwater, and Verner did the same in only 55 seconds against Jamie Moulsdale for a 30-12 lead.

"Sal and I knew we had to pull out pins to win the match," said Verner.

Said McDonogh coach Pete Welch: "That pin was probably the icing on the cake. That was big."

McDonogh made one final surge. Joe Rosenbaum (160) answered with a 7-2 victory over a stubborn Greg Dennis, and Phil Rosenbaum (171) pinned Pat Curran to make it 30-21.

But Mislak sealed Curley's victory with his pin of Max Piatov.

Mislak held a 7-1 lead after one period, and he finished the job with four seconds left in the second period to give the Friars a 15-point advantage.

J.R. Plienis of McDonogh pinned Reggie McTeer in the heavyweight match, but it was too little, too late.